A Calm Slip and a Convulsive Search
by Rosa Cotton
Summary: Tobin Keller found out Silvia Broome’s surveillance had lost track of her. One shot


Disclaimer: I own nothing of _The Interpreter_!

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A Calm Slip and a Convulsive Search

Tobin's cell phone rang, awakening him from his nap. He had unintentionally fallen asleep on the couch in his apartment. He grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

"Keller here," he grunted groggily.

"Tobin," came the slightly nervous-sounding voice of King over the phone. "I've lost her…Silvia Broome."

It took a second for his words to sink in.

"_You've **what?**_" Tobin yelled, all lingering sleep vanishing, and quickly sat up.

"She left her apartment and went off on her scooter. I lost her in traffic. It's been over ten minutes since I last saw her," King explained rapidly.

_Ten minutes!_ "Get Lewis and Doug to–"

"Already did."

Tobin ran a hand through his hair in frustration. This was the second time they had fumbled. The first time they'd watched Silvia, but someone had still managed to get close to her. And now, it had been over ten minutes since she was last seen. Plenty of time for…

"Call me as soon as any of you find her," Tobin snapped, ending the conversation.

He didn't know if Silvia had intentionally slipped away or not. She was not cooperating with him. She withdrew and held things back. He still mistrusted her, but at this moment he was worried about her. He couldn't protect her if he didn't know where she was. He slammed his fist into his palm, was angry at himself, frustrated with King, and concerned for the interpreter who kept an arm's length away from him.

After a too long search, he located his shoes and left the apartment. His phone rang again as he drove to Silvia's apartment building.

It was Doug. "I got her. She's in the middle of a meeting with a guy in the park."

Tobin sighed. "Who is he?"

"Don't know. We'll run a checkup on him."

"Good. Does she seem uneasy?" Tobin asked.

Doug answered, "No. They seem to have met before, I think. Oh."

"What?" Tobin demanded, his hand tightening on the steering wheel.

"They're leaving."

"Together?"

"No."

"Have Lewis tail the guy. And you, don't lose her," Tobin instructed firmly.

"Not this time," Doug promised grimly before hanging up.

Tobin pulled his car into a space in front of Silvia's apartment building and shut off the engine. He took a few minutes to gather his thoughts and composure. When Silvia arrived, he would question her about whom she had met in the park and why. And would make sure she understood that she could not go off like that again. An agent always had to be following her.

He got out of the car and stood on the steps of the apartment building to wait. The tension and worry that had hung over him during his drive slipped away, and thoughts about getting to the bottom of this investigation occupied him.

Several minutes later, his phone rang.

"She just turned onto her street," King reported.

Tobin watched Silvia ride down the road and park her scooter. She was oblivious to his presence as she neared the steps. He stepped down one to confront her. The calm lecture he planned on giving was forgotten as he noticed how calm she appeared, having absolutely no idea that several agents had combed the city for her; how on edge he had been as he waited for her being found! She had no clue how frustrated and anxious he had been, was!

"No, no, no!" Tobin said, pulling off his sunglasses. "You can't go off like that! How am I supposed to protect you if I don't know where you are?" he demanded.

Silvia looked up at him, stunned.

"Set up across the street is a 24-hour surveillance on you." Tobin motioned with a wave of his hand.

She looked over her shoulder and then faced him once more. "But…before, you said you weren't to look after me," she said, puzzled.

"Yeah," he chuckled humorlessly, "well, that was before you had a masked man out on your fire escape!"

He took a deep breath. He had to get a hold of himself. He couldn't let himself get so worked up, get involved emotionally. She wasn't family or a friend.

Tobin stared down at Silvia and said in a calm, firm voice, "Who was that in the park?"

He watched her search for an answer. "Just a person," she replied.

"No, no," he quickly objected, "we're past that. What's his name?"

"It's none of your business!" she said, annoyed, and climbed the stairs to enter the apartment building.

"Is he the one you e-mailed the night before you decided to report the threat?" His words brought her up short. Silvia met his eyes, caught between amazement and anger.

"Where are you? I'm worried about you," Tobin confessed. "Rightly. Please? I need to know you're okay?"

She frowned slightly, uncertain, deciding how, and if, to answer. At her silence he went on.

"Worried, why? Scared he might be involved? Is that him, now, in my country making threats?" Tobin fired the questions, fighting to keep his voice level. "That is my business!"

Silvia, whose face had grown hard during his monologue, cut in. "You're wrong!" she exclaimed strongly. "This has nothing to do with you."

She held Tobin's searching gaze for a moment before marching past him up to the door. He didn't stop her, just watched her enter and glance at him a last time before slamming the door shut behind her.

Tobin pressed his lips into a firm line and slowly returned to his car, Silvia's words racing in his head. _"This has nothing to do with you."_ Perhaps it didn't, but he would find out what she had been up to…and make certain she didn't slip through his fingers again.

THE END


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